Virginia

The morning sun casts a warm glow over the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington, Va.

History, nature and dining delights in Virginia

On your Virginia holiday, the most difficult decision might be selecting from the many tantalising options: history with a modern twist, breathtaking natural beauty, shopping at brand-name outlets and boutiques, soaking up sun along miles of pristine coastline, savouring the local produce and sipping award-winning wines.

Virginia is For Lovers: Follow Your Heart

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This is the first, largest and most prosperous colony on the books in the USA; it’s also, as the local saying goes, “for lovers.” History and romance go hand in hand here, where rolling hills and sunny beaches host charming towns and boardwalks along with the polished manors of presidents and other memorial sites. The Historic Triangle, for example, is home to Jamestown, the first English settlement in America, Colonial Williamsburg, and Yorktown, where the American Revolutionary War ended.

But what’s more romantic than enjoying a glass of chardonnay (and noshing on some of the state’s excellent oysters from the Virginia Oyster Trail) while watching the sunset on a picnic in Shenandoah National Park? Home to more than 280 wineries (making it the fifth largest wine-producing state), Virginia’s wine heritage is well-earned: The colonists were the first to make it here. Not surprisingly, farmers markets and a vibrant farm-to-table scene have also sprung up everywhere, making for unbeatable dining and nightlife.